Mali opens terror inquiry after 17 soldiers killed

Mali’s justice ministry announced on Thursday it had opened an investigation into the deaths of 17 soldiers killed in an attack on their base, as Malians observed the first of three days of mourning.

The government declared a state of emergency after two groups – one jihadist, the other ethnic – both claimed to have carried out the raid on the military camp on Tuesday, which also left dozens wounded.

“A preliminary investigation has been opened by the chief prosecutor for terror offences,” the ministry said in a statement, calling on Malians to “inform the judicial authorities of anything that can help to advance our inquiries”.

A previous state of emergency in place since April had only been lifted the week before.

Malian jihadist organisation Ansar Dine claimed responsibility for the attack, along with the recently-founded National Alliance for the Protection of Peul Identity and Restoration of Justice.

The military camp massacre in Nampala, central Mali, was the latest in a series of assaults on security forces in Mali, and was condemned as a “co-ordinated terrorist attack” by the government.